In reply to Saladin (msg # 907):

As the firing dies down Melia searches among the bodies for the pompous OL Captain that had instigated this whole incident. Her boiling temper at a high simmer close to breaking but not quite. Not seeing him and hearing the Admiral's assessment she starts looking about for casualties. As they start to depart she notices Lyri and rushes over with Shadow, opening her bag quickly setting to work stopping bleeding, dishing out the good pain killers, foaming the worst of the injuries. The whole operation takes a minute or two she laments not bringing her saline and IVs. Grabbing a morphine syrette she looks at Shadow and Lyri before Lyri gets taken "your going to feel a small pinch and then a burning. This may put you to sleep but it'll be better for the surgeon," She says to Lyri. Looking up to Shadow, "You're gonna want to call Hawkeye." she says as she bends the needle on the Syrette into a hook and then hooking it to Lyri's sleeve. Grabbing a pen she quickly scrawls the time across Lyri's forehead along with standard medical code letters indicating the level of care she administered. She pats Shadow on the arm, "Hawkeye, can fix her up good." she says closing her bag and following the Admiral racking a round in her carbine.

At the door Melia growls again, any chance we can open it to the black and let let them take the long walk home she growls examining the door and trying to glance past the barricade without exposing herself to enemy fire.

 Hemsly shrugs, loading ramp is  down, we some  some barrels on fire and stuff that rolled out from Shadow's homemade bombs?...lots of tubes  rolling around  , floating off... Don't know how many folks  are down there... but? there can't be that many....

 Can you open that door, that you jammed? Hack said  in a Cold Voice.

 Aye, Sir...  we Just have to blown the panel.. I cut the  open wires, but not the closing?..  one or two rounds will blow the  panel that the Hyros  should relax and   the doors open..well..most of the way....

Roy nodded, grimly, at the assessment, and replaced magazines in the machine pistols.  He hadn't looked in the least amused with the whole operation...but there was a smoldering anger in his eyes that had started the moment he'd seen Lyri wounded.  It wasn't her first combat wound, by any means...arguably not even the most serious wounds she'd taken in the time he'd been aboard the Hermes, even.  But he'd invested a lot of effort in keeping her alive.

"Ready when you are, Sir," he muttered, not wanting his words to key anyone behind the doors about what was coming.  He held both machine pistols with an easy grip...but his trigger fingers stroked the outer edge of the trigger guards, betraying a tension that was almost impossible to register, otherwise...

  Right then, Lads  and Lassies!, Time fer us  ta open the Door...

  Hemsly  sighted for a few long seconds  on the panel, then  pulled the  trigger twice on his  borrowed Pulse   rifle, the  Dagger that was  jammed in the  controls went up as soon as the   wires  Fried.

 The   Doors  , jerky in motion, opened  up  to 3  feet wide... and Shocked Dusties  looked at the  array of  Hermes  troops , that opened Up On them..it was HArd to  tell how many were there.. all  when Men, all wore  troopers  uniforms.. a few in the back  ran down the ramp to the , odd hell, that was the Hold...

 some 12 troopers who could neither  ran  nor charge, tried to bring their weapons up.

Roy didn't even bother with the token effort at conserving firepower that he'd gain from using burst fire.  Both machine pistols came up as the doors started to move, and as the uniforms of the Oil Lords became apparent beyond the doors, he opened fire, first with the machine pistol in his right hand, and then with the left when the magazine was emptied.  He aimed at masses of bodies, shooting as much for effect and to disable as anything, not worrying about the typical clean kills that he tried for out of habit.

As soon as the second magazine was emptied, he cleared from the opening, giving himself time to change magazines again and opening up the line of fire for everyone else in the room.

Henry opened fire with the shotgun, deliberate aimed shots centre of mass.

    The    firefight, was more  fire...then fight.   when the smoke cleared ( literally )  the Hermes people moved  slowly towards the Ramp. The Bodies  were laying on it other , some  torn apart, some missing limbs,  all had the look of Horror  on their  faces, staring  at nothing...

    Slowly  they made their  way down the Ramp... the  shuttle   still burned,  though  not as brightly, Black Smoke   Hung  in the thin air as a slow  stream made its  way to the  opened loading ramp... some Bodies , closer to the  ramp , floated... others   near  the ramp that lead up to the Containment  Still layed  on the  Ground...

  a Tube was  slowly spiraling out of the   loading ramp into The Black.

   towards the Bow, was a  Jagged, ragged  cylinder , that was once the elevator  to the bridge... the  Pulse weapons had all but destroyed it,  a few Body parts showed some of the Dusties  had  tried  to  reach the elevator before the  Pulse Rifles  exploded.

  In the   far  corner, stood  Capt Aazz.. he ha d two  of the  sand-robed  women in front of him... they looked scared, one was ,(hard to tell with Angelfood)  seemed to be in her  early 20's..the  other   in her  30's..

 Aazz had  two weapons, one  aimed at the women...one at the Hermes  troops  as  the  began to move towards   him.

 STOP!.. I will Kill them!

 We had this talk before,  You coward.... these are your people, not mine... you want to kill your  own? then you damn well better hope, there aren't any gods....if there are gods?... I can't think of any who would be proud of you, for killing helpless women, who are with child?

 The Older  woman spoke  quickly,PLEASE... if you must...kill me...but  do not let him kill her! She  did not choose this life... I am paying for choosing  foolishly!

 The  Younger  woman  held her belly, she was dripping tears... her eyes  looking from the older woman  Hack.

 Well..Aazz?... you have a few choices?... none are good..but ehre they are.... YOu can surrender... you will..die, of course..but yo'll have  some time to prepare yourself.... if you co-operate?..you could  receive a softer...sentence....2?  You can  try to take  as many of us with you as you can...but you will die..here.. in the hold of you dung freighter of a ship....3.. You could surrender.... and Tell us  how Dusties  managed  to get a ship that could fly  all the way out here...and not fall apart? if you are real Lucky, the BOard might let you go to the Colonies....but..as  of the moment  you  tries to take my ship?..You will..never..ever..see earth again...your only choice? is whether you want to still be alive...

Henry laid his shotgun down.

"OK, Aazz. You cannot kill all of us, and you only have two hostages. When they're gone, they're gone... and I know that my colleagues will open fire immediately. Let the ladies go and we can talk."

He began to move slowly forwards, hands in plain sight, heading towards the younger of the two women.

He held a hand out to her.

"Come. You will be safe now... تعال - سوف تكون آمنة الآن "

  Aazz looks at henry, the Younger woman looks at Henry with wide  eyes, tears   still streaming, But Aazz Holds he r By her  shawl ( and HAir)

 The Older   woman Looks at Aazz,..you must leave   her go... her  dead..will not change  yours...and will only hasten it...

  Hemsly is  more then a little  worried, Now  Doc?.. Don't  think ye  should be lettin' yerself get too close.....

 Hack  racked his greasegun,.. Aazz?.. I'm not sure how many rounds  are  in here... but i know this?.. there  are enough rounds here to send you to whichever of the 9 hells   your marked for....If you  know anything, about the Angel versions of  the hells, you don't  want to go any deeper then you already are marked for...and?.. you sure  don't want to rush it!... Leave the Girl go....

 The Younger  woman Holds  Out a Hand to Henry, while the other HAnd holds her  belly.. The Older    woman tries to get Aazz to release her, but  putting a firm arm, on the hand that holds  the  shawl  and the  weapon pointed at her.

  His eyes  are wild  now as he looks  from the women to   , henry, and then Hack.... the 'free hand  is   now aiming at henry.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:01, Thu 08 Sept 2016.

Melia growls as she moves from behind Hack and Henry, her senses and reflexes honed by the practice spent in the private hanger. Her carbine falls to the floor and her hand pulls her .45 hard ammo with smooth practiced precision. The hot weapon rises in the blink of an eye. Precision both short and medium distance was her specialty when shooting. Specifically hostage situations. Without warning she steps out sights align with Azzaz's head and her fibger tightens on the trigger. She shoots with confidence and practiced ease. As she follows the round forwards towards Azzaz allowing for further openings if her first shot doesn't take him out.

   Aazz  watched,  his   forehead  covered in sweat,  both weapons shook as he looked    around,..scarfed, confused, angry, and Humiliated...

 Henry was the Best choice.. so Close..Unarmed  He would....


 The all was gone on the Blink of  an eye, and   a spray of grey , pink and  red.. Melia stood there...her weapon still smoking..

 The Younger  woman screamed out is  surprise, then...in heartbreak  as  she   clutched the Body of the ...near...headless man.

  The Older  woman  let  the arm Go as the first round slammed into his  head, even the spray that  flicked on her, did not cause her to flinch.

  She Turned slowly to HAck,...it is done... what is to become of us?....There  are two Types of us..... Those who are bred  for food.... and  those who are  being bred to help the Largran flourish....

  Hark walked  Up to Aazz,  , gently  Pulling the Younger woman away from his Body,..Your Name?..Madam? he asked the older  woman,

 I am Lila...First   wife to Aazz.... this is Ayda, 4th wife, and most favored ....

 Hack turns to  Henry and Melia,please , see to these ladies....Its time to go.... Hack searches   Aazz  taking  some discs  and papers  from him.

Hunter watches the shot, and once it was over walked over to Melia "and that was good shooting" he tells Melia in a professional sounding voice. His tone and body language show his approval of her and her actions.
Looking briefly at Henry he adds
"Doc Henry try to not be so eager to meet the above ones, they will call for you when they are ready"

Seeing Azzaz go down Melia hostlers her .45 stepping back to grab her carbine. She pulls her med bag and scanner from behind her hip,  and approaches the woman who'd screamed. Palms up and hands apart, "I'm not here to hurt you Ayda, I need to check you make sure you're okay." She holds up the scanner innocuously and continues to approach cautiously.

Ayda looks  at them, her eyes  narrow in hate as She  tries  to Lunge at Melia, Only to be Grabbed  by  Lila and held  ,.... You will not.... She has  saved  your life... and the  life of your....spawn.. you should  thank her.....

 you say that, be cause he thrust you from his Bed..... You wished him dead!

  Yes.... i wished him dead, but  not  for the reason you say....but  for the many of use who have suffered and Died.... you did  not know where this  trip would be ending...but i did...

 Ayda  sneers  and  tried  to jerk away from the odler woman, whose  hand  still holds her   fast!

Roy had, himself, quietly slipped the fire select on one of the machine pistols to 'single'...they weren't designed for accuracy, even at this range, and while he had no doubt he could hit Aazz, he wasn't sure it would be instantly fatal...

And then Melia's shot rang out, and it didn't matter anymore.  Roy nodded, grimly, holstering the machine pistol in his left hand, keeping the one in his right.  "We've got the bridge, seems like we've managed to silence the guns...how much trouble are we likely to encounter on the rest of the ship?" he asked the older woman.  He was quite certain the younger would be no help, whatsoever, for some time...and possibly never.

"And just what do you mean by "being bred to help the Largrans flourish"?" he asked, with more than a little suspicion in his tone.  His mood wasn't helped any by the statement...considering it was Largrans who'd nearly killed Lyri before...

     Lila shook her head,.... This  Ship, SGT MAJ..is a Gift from the Demonic  Empire..mostly the LArgran.... The Cost for this  ship was 1000 food Humans, and 50 chosen Breeders....The Largran has come up with a serum , as the Angels HAve Angel food... The Largran have called theirs LArganBoost. .. The only 'positive' is it  makes human females 40%  more  likely to have a largran-human offspring.... those who have been labeled  as having , such a child, were permitted  to walk around the ship free....Those who  were unsure, were brought  along, as a food item for  LArgran Holidays

 She  waves at the  ship   with a disgusted hand,..My Husband, was chosen to captain this ship, because    he volunteered all of his  8 wives to the program... he...was a fool... because  he only brought 100 troopers of the OL army, all the rest were  sons of  high ranking  members, who wanted to make sure the Largrans  knew who they were.... they had..very little, training  on using the weapons of the  Largan's  new Cannons....They, like many of us... are halfbred... solid ammunition that is powered  and , encased , in  a PUlse Jacket.....Used  correctly...  one well placed shot  can burn through the  armor of an ESN Vessel

 Smiling sadly she adds,I was  in the academy in France, before Aazz,bought me from my father... i would have  been  Gunnery Master....

Jesse makes quick time of rounding up the injured and saved alongside Spartan.  She tried not to commune with the injured in case getting close could also mean getting hurt.  She felt for them yes, but also knew that in some retrospect their choices led them here.  Much like her own choices led her to her arrival on the Hermes.  She had a new family now.  One she was much happier, and safer with.  She only hoped her mother would respectively be proud of her.

Let's get them to a safe space, she said.  They have already suffered enough.

   Garrat steps between Malia and the pregnant woman and shoulders his riffle "This one who made the shot carried the seed of darkness as you do right now.  Only her strength of will kept it from destroying her.  She DID save you.  Saved you from a monster that saw you as no more than a bargaining tool."  he nods his head toward the corpse. "I can see why the forth wife was cast from his graces.  She was wise enough not to wish to be part of his malignancy anymore.  You will submit to examination then accompany us from this place.  I'd rather it be by choice than force."

   Garrat removes some zip ties from his gear.

   "Lila, you have Valkyrie in you.  I hope to be able to work with you in the future.  Are there any traps left on this ship to know about before we continue clearing it?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:45, Fri 09 Sept 2016.

Henry was startled by Melia's shot, but stepped forwards to assist the two women.

As things settled down, he went over to Melia.

"Thank you," he said quietly, "That was an amazing shot."

His hand unaccountably shook slightly as he picked up the shotgun.

  Lila  raises her head, just a bit,..I am..The First wife.... had i been anything lesser... i would have been in a tube right now.

  Hack  Nodded to  Lila,We will be  having you tested  as  well as Ayda...and see what we  are able to do , for help... we'll have the Tubes  sent to Fuji and Everest to see what we can do  for them.

  There is a grateful nod , at first, Then a stunned look, the woman looks  at herny  , Melia, Garrat, and the others ,she says  softly, with a bit of a hard swallow.

  Admiral? I am afraid you do not understand... when they send you to the Tubes? You  are deemed unworthy of bearing a  Largran  offspring.... when yuou are put into the Tubes, you are fed to keep you alive, since you are , in there eyes, only good for  food...and?  as you know...Those of the Demonic Empire..Prefer ...LIVE...food...other then that?... those in the  tubes are nothing more then Feeder creatures, and will die, a hour or so  after the Tubes  are removed.

Melia continued to move forward her hands extended. The universal symbol of not wanting to cause harm, it didn't change the fact that the open hands approach was also incredibly effective at becoming an unarmed take down or joint lock if it need be, not that Ayda needed to know that. Melia smiles at Henry, "It's what I was trained to do, sometimes in hostage situations the only way to negotiate or defuse them with the least harm is with a single well placed bullet. Snipers can't always see through doors, had a DI that took perverse pleasure in training a medic to be a precision pistol shooter. Though I suppose there's a certain practicality to it."

She takes another step towards Ayda scanner up, "I mean you know harm. The only harm that will come to you now is that which you cause yourself. Look me in the eyes, you can see that I mean no harm to you. If it is a monster you carry I can help you with that, I have been through something similar. If it is a human child, I can find you the help you need but I need to scan you for injuries to ensure your health." She says closing the distance.

She pushes the thoughts of the tubes out of her mind for the moment sure that there are plenty of enterprising medtech who could figure it out. Nine hells help any of the OLs left if Hawkeye found out, know her views on the use of medicine.  LT Ominarah flashed through her brief moment of thought and she wondered if the LT had been trained as an anesthesiologist and knew anything about drug induced comas that could help. The thoughts lasted hardly a second, but her attention didn't waver from Ayda. Lila was being cooperative and thus wouldn't be an issue when her turn came, however Ayda was the wild card and as such that meant dealing with her now.

Garrat steps from in between Melia and Ayda.  He  will not stand in the way of Melia's intentions, but is within reach.

In reply to Garrat Wolfrim (msg # 931):

To Melia's side Hunters hand suddenly holds his sword. He is on the balls of his feet combat tuned and oh so very ready to support his lady.
But his stance clearly gives Melia, the command and room for action

   Hack studied the  Women for a few seconds, as he said,we're done here.... Secure  the Young one, but have a Guard with Lila....  Melia   and Omin  can check her over on the shuttle   as we  head to the Hermes..

 He  turns  to the  Stern facing door , Picking up another   OL Pulse  rifle to make  sure he had 'fresh' rounds

 Nila  bows he reha d slightly and looks to the others  to see what they will have her  do.

 Ayda  struggles  with attempts to secure her.

  Hermes?  This is Admiral Hack,  recall anything we have in the air..have Med techs  treat   to scan some hostages, and care  for our wounded.....

  Commander  Si here.... Already Done  Admiral....

 She    COMs  Miller to recall the fighters  and any ships out in the Black.

 Hack says  on ALL COMS,Admiral St Gaul. The Saladin is Yours... YOu will board her, check all the Tubes to see if  any lives  can be saved....there maybe  wounded, or  some  enemies in hiding..make sure you sweep the ship. I want all Intel gather  to be shared with The Delta  fleet... I want a study done on the Ship's Guns..Test it  on an Asteroid or something....then let me  have the readouts of the test... Jump off will be delayed  12  hours  , so  we can get the fleet together for our Next  Mission...

 Of  Course, Mon Admiral... but... we are still going through with Missions , In Light of  Ge-Fi's attempt to take over the Delta Fleet?

  Hack made the Turn   out of the   doors  and headed to the Shuttle,..If nothing Else, Admiral St Gaul... we are doing   in more so...BECAUSE.. of this....Some one doesn't  want us   shaking up the Beta Quad....that's enough reason  for  Us   to hit it even harder...

  HAck  Clicked off His  Com,  walking into the shuttle, his  wound  made him limp a little more  as  his adrenalin began to thin out.  He looked at  Spartan and Jesse..Hodden  and Minnet.. and the  5 woman who were saved on the Gun Dec.

  Noting   The Top Bubble  was sealed  tight, and  Metaglass was scattered on the  dec... his   face   went  dark as he thought  about  the wounded.

In reply to Saladin (msg # 933):

Ayda  struggles  with attempts to secure her.<<<<,
Hunters sheaths weapons and steps forward. In a firm but reasonably gentle voice he says
" Struggling is pointless save your energy for another time". "There are more of us than you and we are trained for this"
If she continues to resist Hunter uses his training to arm lock here and move her to the shuttle as instructed